A godson of Olympic running legend Carl Lewis, Cameron Burrell, dies aged 26 in car park 'incident
A 26-year-old Houston College Sprinter has passed away Monday though his actual cause of death did not publicly reveal. Cameron Burrell was a former NCAA champion sprinter and track athlete who won the 100 meters for his college and figured in the record-setting 4x100 relay team in 2017 and 2018.
“My family is extremely saddened with the loss of our son, Cameron, last night,” Burrell’s dad and coach Leroy Burrell said. “We are going through profound sorrow and ask that all of our friends, extended University of Houston family, and the track and field community in the US and abroad allow us to gather with our closest family and friends.”
“We are profoundly grief-stricken and thank everyone for the outpouring of prayers and support. We will forward more information when it is available.”Burrell was the son of an Olympic gold medalist in the 100 meters, Leroy, and Michelle Finn-Burrell, a gold medalist relay-sprinter at the 1992 Olympics.
In a stunning career that spanned from 1979 to 1996, when he last won an Olympic event, Lewis took a gold medal in the same individual event in four consecutive Olympic Games. He topped the world rankings in the 100m, 200m and long jump events from 1981 to the early 1990s and set world records before his retirement.
Paying tribute to Cameron Burrell on social media, Olympic athlete from the Bahamas and gold medal winner Chris 'Fireman' Brown said: "An Angel has gotten his wings. R.I.P Cameron Burrell."Sincerest condolences to the Burrell family. May the Lord grant you all peace and comfort during this difficult time."His family said they were 'grief-stricken' and are now 'going through profound sorrow' after the tragedy.
In a statement, his dad Leroy said: "My family is extremely saddened with the loss of our son, Cameron, last night."We are going through profound sorrow and ask that all of our friends, extended University of Houston family and the track and field community in the U.S. and abroad allow us to gather with our closest family and friends.
"We are profoundly grief-stricken and thank everyone for the outpouring of prayers and support. We will forward more information when it is available."Friend of the family Mike Pedé offered condolences and said on Facebook: "I cannot imagine the pain they must be going through, but I draw on Leroy's undying positivity, and we should all send some to this family know as they try to make some sense of Cameron's passing."
Medical records indicate that he died in a parking lot garage, but more details of the full circumstances of the tragedy have not been released. Cameron came from a family of hugely successful athletes. His dad was a gold medallist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the 4x100m relay and the former world record holder in the 100m. His mum also won track gold at the 1992 event.
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